Erik Saunders is a racer who has a website, and unlike most professional cyclists; he is very active in providing content for his site. He is also very candid about racing and life in general, so he makes for a great interview candidate.

SCHMALZ How is your team situation for 2006?

SAUNDERS Right now I still have no deal. I have some things in the works and I expect to sign something good in a week or so, but I have nothing at the moment.

SCHMALZ I’ve always been curious about the pro off-season contract do-see-do, how do you hook up with teams? Do you just call them up? Or do you work contacts, etc.? Or can you not give away your secrets?

SAUNDERS It’s pretty straight forward. Pro biking is a very small world and everyone knows everyone else, if they want you they call you up. If you don’t get a call right away it’s still pretty simple. A lot of times the riders will ask for another guy to be in their team, but really it just takes making a call to the director. Chances are you already know him and it’s a comfortable thing to do. The directors know if they want you or not based on what they need for their team. It’s like a football or a baseball team. They are always looking to strengthen areas and build the team they think can win the races that are important – or show well in.

SCHMALZ Your site is an exception from most pro’s sites in that it isn’t poisonously boring. Has your straightforwardness on your site ever caused you trouble?

SAUNDERS No, not that I know of. Sometimes I think about not being so candid and not allowing comments. But I figured a while ago that all that people want is a good time. I keep coming back to that, and if there wasn’t so much happening on there it would be less fun. In the end I am respectful to everyone that reads and contributes so I am confident that no matter what people understand what the point is. They get it. And they enjoy that the site reads like a conversation between a few good guys who are a bit buzzed on PBR. In fact I know that some people only post after a few beers.

SCHMALZ Ahhh, beer, where would the internet message board community be without it? I have to admit to being more of a Miller High Life guy, though. It always makes me feel a little more connected to the world when someone calls me a dumbass in an anonymous post, how about you?

SAUNDERS I like Dos Equis and also gin and tonic with lime.

SCHMALZ You were off the front for a good portion of the NYC Championships races two years ago, I always liked the fact that when you’re in a race it seems you always take a shot at the win. Was the break your idea or was it team orders or was it just something that happened?

SAUNDERS Well, Pete had gone for a bit and then Jackson countered that. And it was fast and when he got caught I countered from 20 guys back. It seemed like the thing to do. I was going with the idea to make it to the line somehow. Vassili got to me a bit later and we just went. We were going flat stick hoping for it to rain, but it didn’t. It was extra tough because I lost all my bottles and had nothing to drink the whole time. I was a wreck and towards the end of getting caught I was getting worse and worse every lap. I needed a feed bad but none was allowed.

SCHMALZ On a different note, has being a pro racer made you a hypochondriac? If

so, what’s the craziest thing you or anyone you know does to avoid getting sick? Do you jump when someone coughs near you at the airport?

SAUNDERS I am not a hypochondriac. I do the normal things to keep from getting sick. Like I stay away from sick people and I don’t share drinks and food and water bottles.

Bike racing is already such a hustle, and being sick costs you money. It costs you money in the short term for obvious reasons and in the long term because if you lack results it puts a big hole in you season and it makes things a bit tough when it comes time to make the deals for the next year.

But a lot of guys are crazy. Thinking that they are always sick – not putting on the ac in the hotel and crap like that – it’s bad. Half the time all that worry is worse than getting a cold.

To be really sick sucks, it seems like for the past 2 years I have gotten bad food poisoning in March right at the beginning of the year. And it’s been bad enough to ruin my spring. So bad to where I can’t eat or drink for 3 days and I lose 15 pounds. I could tell you some serious gross out stories. That kind of thing will take you a month to come back, but you don’t get that sick from a 2 year old or the ac.

SCHMALZ I don’t understand the over careful sickness-avoiders either, but the weird thing is how guys will get sick during a stage race because they get some sketchy food or such. I cannot understand why they eat salmon at a dodgy hotel? Is it that hard to resist?

SAUNDERS I can’t tell ya – I don’t eat frozen burritos or olive garden anymore.

SCHMALZ How did you come to be a bike racer? Did you come from another cycling discipline (BMX or such)? Were you athletic growing up – i.e. did you play other sports and then became a cyclist?

SAUNDERS I started mountain biking – I just decided to do it. And I was ok, but I wasn’t super good right away. In Virginia they have a lot of mountain bike races in the actual real mountains. So, yeah…

SCHMALZ How did you do in your first race? The more pros I talk to the more I hear about how they won their first race, and had immediate success – each time I hear that I grow more jealous and resentful…

SAUNDERS I didn’t get real good until I started on the road the next year. My first road race I didn’t win, I got dropped, but I was with real juniors. The second race I did had a citizen junior category and I won that.

SCHMALZ At this time of year it seems that pros have their ebay “everything must go” sales. Are you planning on clearing anything out?

SAUNDERS I probably won’t use ebay because they take all your money. And then paypal takes the rest and then you get like 20 bucks. I will put a boat load of clothes and equipment on my site for sale. I did it last year and it worked out good. I have so much high-end junk around my house. I can’t close my drawers because of all the bike clothes I have. It’s silly man.

SCHMALZ How does your track racing compliment your road racing? Which track

discipline is your favorite?

SAUNDERS Last year I did two races on the track. It’s not something that I do regularly. I like the Madison, and I like miss-n-outs. In past years, I have taken a big break after USPRO champs and then I did a month at Trexlertown to come back to racing. That always goes well. You get the speed back in your legs right away. This past year I didn’t take such a big break and I went to Superweek instead of the track. I felt like I needed to go do some more important races than what they have on the track and I needed to go to some races that I could win – so that meant no track.

SCHMALZ It seems like the crowd at T-town has split into two battling factions, care to comment on that fiasco?

SAUNDERS I stayed away from all that this year – it’s palpable – and silly. It kills the racing. When those guys are ready to pedal their bikes, I will go out there. But until then you won’t see me. I think events this year really highlighted how stupid it’s becoming. So in 06 it might be that I show up and do some races.

SCHMALZ Can you do any cool messenger-like fixed gear tricks?

SAUNDERS I can do track stands with my wheel to the left only. And the only thing I can do is the sitting one handed coffee holding stand. I used to ride the rollers with no hands, eyes closed, and I could do no hands, one leg.

SCHMALZ Those are good skills. In a perfect world you would be able to put them on a resume.

SCHMALZ Have you ever done any other races in NYC other than the Downtown race?

SAUNDERS The NYC is the only race I have ever done there, and it’s the only time I been to the city. . I wish they still had that race. I have done some races in New Jersey, though

SCHMALZ Now is the time where I have the obligatory Harlem race mention and say

that you should do it because it’s cool and old (since 1973) and you get to be a legend for winning it. I am, of course, helping with the promotion of the race also.

SAUNDERS I know about that race. I grew up in VA and I always heard about it.

Seems like it was top secret – maybe next year I will go.

SCHMALZ Do you still live in Southern California? If so, what’s your biggest gripe about training/riding there? If you no longer live there, I’m just completely wrong and feel free to abuse me accordingly.

SAUNDERS Where I am at there just aren’t any roads, and the roads we have are 1 percent up or down for miles. So you get real strong riding out here because they just grind away, and the roads are bad and they grind your crotch away too. You can see 30 miles down the same straight ass road.

Near the coast it’s real nice but there are too many cars, and you are landlocked so still there aren’t any roads. But at least there are good climbs that you can ride up pretty fast.

I just bought a house in NC where you can’t see 500 meters in front of you and there are a lot of rolling hills and short, sharp climbs. I can’t wait to move in. I am moving ASAP.

California is WAY over rated…

SCHMALZ Do you ipod while you train?

SAUNDERS ipods are a rip off. I swear; those things are the worst pieces of crap – overpriced. I used to train with an mp3 player, but when I’m riding it’s more of an annoyance than anything else so I stopped using it. I have a Treo 650 with the core media player; it’s freeware and it’s the best media player ever. If I put a 1 or 2 gig sd card in my Treo I can get all the music I need and listen to it all day and not have to carry two devices. I think the future is definitely in combined functionalities. When you have a Treo you look at ipods and you think “what a waste of money” – especially when you consider that not only is it a phone and an mp3 player – it’s also a high-end PDA! It does everything, and it’s cheaper than having an ipod, and a phone, and a laptop that you have to carry around with you.

SCHMALZ Do you train with a wattage contraption? If so, want to share some numbers – what’s the top wattage number you’ve ever recorded?

SAUNDERS Yeah, I have an SRM. On my site I am going to put all the races I use the SRM with so you can read the files and see the numbers. I think the most I ever did was 18 something in a Windgate test. It was a while ago. That’s not stupid fast but it’s a lot of watts to make in a sprint. Back then I was much more of a sprinter than I am now. But I remember that a lot, and a big reason that I have a power meter is so that I can get my speed up again, and then work more on my sprint this year.

Oh yeah, on the watts thing. I have to say this. There are all these guys that get crazy into watts, and there seems to be this holy grail of power training that people are going for – 400 watts at threshold. I hear guys talking about that all the time, “I can do 420” or this or that. Watts at threshold is worthless in a bike race because you don’t ever ride around at threshold unless you are in a TT, and even then your real ability is in exceeding threshold for extended periods and then coming back down to it. That’s how those guys squeeze so much speed out.

When you are pro, or a good amateur, EVERYONE can do near 400 at threshold, it’s just normal. So what do you do when you have achieved the Holy Grail and you still suck? To really succeed you need to make 6-800 watts for 30 seconds to be good, not 400 watts for 20 minutes. When you get dropped, or miss an attack it’s because you didn’t have the

power for 5 or 10 seconds. Think about it, you get gassed and some guy puts 15 seconds on you over the top of a hill or something and then he settles into his 400 watts and you settle into your 400 watts 15 seconds behind. What’s the difference? That big 800 watt attack he put on you that left you behind, and then with 5 k to ride to the line you are nowhere.

SCHMALZ I agree that the watts thing is getting out of hand; I don’t race with mine, because what’s the point, really? Either you have it that day or you don’t. If you’ve done your work with the wattage during the week you know where you’re at for the race. The watts to me in a race would be a distraction.

SAUNDERS The thing with power meters are that they are MOST valuable if you race

with them; that’s when you can gather your most important information on which to base your training. If you have a power meter you should race with it for sure.

SCHMALZ Care to expand on your French/European racing experience? Did you end up in France because the opportunity presented itself or did you have a goal of racing in France and then worked towards that goal?

SAUNDERS It just happened. My friend Doug Knox who worked for Time got it set up, and I went. To go and race there was one of the best experiences of my life. It’s funny to think that it just came about easily and was never a real goal of mine. It goes to show that you have to always be open to things happening in life. That’s when you really start to have some interesting options.

It was a good thing for the racing, yeah, but more for the life – to see a better way to live and to see people who have simple, happy lives. I lived in a really rural part of France and it was something quite different from what I expected, but I was there and I made friends outside of biking and I had a life outside of biking and I think that in the little scene there I was somebody that people liked and had something to contribute. For sure I can say that I am really grateful for the contribution that my friends made to my life. My perspective was changed in my 3 years in Europe, and it really set me up for the way in which I would live the rest of my life. I left there knowing how I wanted things to be.